Stephene and Colin

How We Met

It all started in our small town in a suburb outside of NYC. It was the sixth grade dance and one of my friends sent me a note saying she heard that Colin who was in Mrs Lobosko’s class was going to ask me to the dance! I knew Colin because he lived 3 blocks away from me but we never had any classes together. So later that day he asked me on the playground. I was overjoyed. We “dated” as he was my first boyfriend and also my first kiss – on the swing set a graduation party later that summer. He got sent to catholic middle/high school so our paths separated until the age of 27. I was at a bachelorette party in his precinct in Manhattan (he’s a cop now) and I posted a “check-in” which prompted him to send me a message saying “be safe! I work right near Bagatelle (a brunch spot in NYC). Later that evening on the balcony of our hotel the bridal party and myself was waving into the light of a cop car ! Colin had come to say hello! After that day we chatted and I was so unsure and scared to date at all but he became my friend firstly. With time we grew to be best friends and ultimately fell in love .

How He Asked

My hobby – the one thing that has saved me mentally and emotionally is horseback riding. I adopted a retired racehorse my family had owned for 7 years and started training with him. I have been going to the racetrack since I was a kid and horses have always been my love. When Colin and I first started dating he told me how his parents always rent a lake house in Saratoga lake a mere 5 minutes from Saratoga racetrack. For the past 3 years , every summer we have traveled to the same house with the same beautiful lakefront in the backyard. The last year in this house however was a sad one. His aunt got hurt and required emergency surgery and our trip got cut short with a lot of upset and turmoil. Colin vowed to make this time different. Being an animal lover I had been feeding baby ducklings off the pier of our house. So on August 1 around 630 pm Colin yelled to me that “Martin” (named for the martins potato rolls I have been feeding them) was outside! I ran down to the pier and he dropped down to his knee and proposed